Limavady Shared Campus takes another step

The Shared Education Campus will see the construction of a new STEM centre on the Limavady High School site and a Sixth Form centre on the St Mary’s site.

It has received approval to its £5.7m business case, and a Project Board will be established to oversee the management of the project and the delivery of the new facilities.

“The Project Board, with representatives from Limavady High School, St Mary’s, Limavady, Department of Education, Education Authority and Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, held its first meeting on Friday, June 24 to begin the next stage of the process, the engagement of an Integrated Design Team,” said a spokesperson, adding: “Approval was given to tender for the Integrated Design Team.”

The spokesperson said the Project Board will meet again in early September and a further update will be provided after the meeting.

St. Mary’s Principal, Mary McCloskey, and Limavady High School Principal, Shane Laverty have previously said the project will be “a huge boost for both schools, the local community and the wider Limavady district”.

They have said they are “delighted to see the project, one which is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, finally coming of age”.

In a joint statement, both principals spoke of the “pioneering work in shared education between the two schools”, and which has been “recognised for what it is - at the forefront of providing the best possible educational outcomes for all of the young people who attend St Mary’s and the High School”.

“Long hours have been spent in consultation, and in the fine-tuning of this project, which is widely recognised as being at the forefront of Shared Education,” they said

“Sharing resources and curricula will enable students to achieve better outcomes, which will give them the currency to go on to the university or place of employment of their choosing.”